624 



G LY 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



G M E 



much greater than that of most other tilings lie can raise on 

 it, that there is no room left for him to repine at the charges. 

 Having therefore made choice of a proper piece of land for 

 the purpose, let it be thoroughly dunged with good rotten 

 dung, and after being ploughed up in the latter end of the 

 summer, and laying all the winter to mellow, in the spring 

 let it be dug in the following manner. In the middle of Feb- 

 ruary, let the labourers be sent in, and properly looked over, 

 to see that they do not perform their work slightly. They 

 must dig every part of the earth thoroughly to the depth of 

 three feet, and take care to break every lump they meet with, 

 though but small, in order that the ground may lie smooth, 

 with a level surface, and be nearly as fine as sand all the 

 depth. The expense of doing this is very considerable, but 

 it is absolutely necessary ; the profit will be answerable; and 

 the husbandman may rest assured, that by every shilling he 

 would save in not having this work well performed, he would 

 lose ten at least in the crop. When the whole piece of 

 ground intended for the plantation is thus prepared, the sets 

 are to be put in, and the same care and attention are requi- 

 site here, as in the other parts of the business, for the least 

 omission or neglect is sure to be attended with loss. The 

 first thing to be regarded in this respect, is the choice of the 

 plants or sets ; and the second is, placing them properly in 

 the ground. Choice should be made of such only as are in 

 good condition, and have, as the planters call it, a good eye 

 or bud. They are either raised from seeds, or procured 

 from the heads of the old roots, most commonly the latter, 

 and should be about a foot in length, sound, fresh, and clear 

 on the surface. About the beginning of March, when the 

 sets are chosen, and the ground is perfectly prepared, is the 

 season for planting, which should be performed in the follow- 

 ing manner. Let there be got in readiness a gardener's line, 

 of such a length as to extend from one side of the ground to 

 the other, if it be but small ; but if larger, it may be removed 

 from place to place occasionally. A couple of sticks sharp- 

 ened at the end, and a ball of cord, is all that is necessary 

 for this purpose. Besides the line, the planter must be fur- 

 nished with a setting-stick, which may be of any convenient 

 length ; but the best way is to have it of a certain dimension, 

 that it may serve for a measure ; and for this purpose, it 

 should be just a foot and a half long, with a handle or crutch 

 at the top like a spade, and a point made of a square piece 

 of iron in form of a very large spike, and hollowed at the 

 upper end to receive the wood. All things being in readi- 

 ness, let the line be drawn at about the distance of a foot 

 from the outside of the prepared ground. The planter then 

 taking his sets in his apron, or a basket, and the setting-stick 

 in his hand, may begin to plant, placing the first set at about 

 half the stick's length from the end of the line. When he has 

 done this, let him measure from it along the line the length 

 of his setting-stick, and at that distance plant another, and 

 so on for the whole length. The manner of putting in the sets 

 is this : let the end of the setting-stick, which is pointed with 

 iron, be thrust into the ground till the handle almost touches 

 ihe surface, and then being gently drawn out aguin, there 

 will remain a hole about sixteen inches deep, into which is to 

 be put a set of the Liquorice, carefully and evenly thrusting 

 it down till the head of it, where the bud or eye is, be one 

 inch or a little more below the surface ; the other end will 

 then pbrmt reach the bottom of the hole, and a little mould 

 being drawn over the top, the set will be completely well 

 planted. The remaining part of the row is to be planted 

 exactly in the same manner; and when that is completed, a 

 second is to be begun at the distance of two feet and a half 

 from it. But in planting this, it will be best not to place the 



plants exactly opposite to those in the last row, but in the 

 middle between them. The second row being put in, the 

 line is to be drawn for a third, and the plants in this should 

 be set opposite to those in the first row, which being done, 

 every fourth plant of the first and third row will have one 

 plant of the second row in their centre. This method is to 

 be followed throughout the whole field, and is called the 

 quincunx manner of planting; the effect of which is, that 

 look whichever way you will at the plantation, when the 

 stems are risen, they will appear in regular rows the whole 

 extent of the ground. The whole being planted, the earth 

 is to be finely raked, and the surface made perfectly lerel. 

 Thus it is to be left for the present; and the advantages of 

 so regular a piece of husbandry will sufficiently recompense 

 the planter's trouble. The heads of the young plants will 

 quickly appear, and weeds of the annual kinds will spring up 

 in abundance along with them ; these may be easily and ex- 

 peditiously destroyed by going over them with the hand-hoe. 

 This hoeing must be occasionally repeated during the sum- 

 mer; the expense attending it will be but small, and all the 

 care requisite in performing it is, to avoid cutting or wound- 

 ing the young plantation. The ground being thus kept clear 

 during the summer, it will be well worth while to turn the whole 

 over, one spit deep between the rows, as soon as the leaves 

 begin to decay : and a month or two after, let a small quan- 

 tity of very rotten dung be scattered all over the surface: 

 this will cover the crowns of the young plants, and defend 

 them from the severity of the winter's frost, and when those 

 are past, the rains will in a manner dissolve the very sub- 

 stance of the dung, and convey its richness into the heart of 

 this fine loose earth, for the better nourishment of the plants. 

 In the spring, what remains will be dug in by turning the 

 spaces between the rows over again, where, by mixing and 

 fermenting with the mould, it will break and divide the soil, 

 as well ns enrich it farther. All that remains to be done the 

 second summer, is to keep the plants free from weeds ; and at 

 the end of the third, they will be ready to take up for use. 



3. Glycyrrhiza Hirsuta; Hairy Liquorice. Legumes hir- 

 sute ; the terminating leaflet petioled. This strongly resem- 

 bles the two preceding species ; but the pods are hairy and 

 longer. Native of the Levant. 



4. Glycyrrhiza Asperima; Rough Liquorice. Legumes 

 smooth ; leaflets elliptic, cusped ; stalk hispid, scabrous ; 

 roots slender and very long, extremely sweet, especially in 

 the spring. The flower pale violet colour. Found between 

 the Wolga and the Jaick. 



Gmelina ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angio- 

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 leafed, very small, stibglobular, four-toothed, permanent. 

 Corolla : one-petalled, bell-shaped, patulous ; the border 

 four-cleft; the upper segments wider and vaulted; the lower 

 and lateral segments obtuse, smaller', spreading, rounded. 

 Stamina : filamenta four, two of which are thicker, and two 

 bowed in and ascending; antherae, two thicker, parted, two 

 smaller, simple. Pistil: germen roundish ; style the length 

 of the smaller stamina; stigma simple. Pericarp: drupe 

 ovate, one-celled. Seed: nut ovate, smooth and even, two- 

 celled; Geertner says three-celled, with the lowest cell 

 barren. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: slightly four- 

 toothed. Corolla: four-cleft, bell-shaped. Anthvne : two- 

 parted, two simple. Drupe: with a two or three celled 

 nut.- The species are, 



1. Gmelina Asiatica. A tree, with round, stiff, upright 

 branches; leaves opposite, petioled. ovate, tomentose under- 

 neath, having frequently a shorter sharp lobe on eaeh side; 

 spines axillary, opposite, horizontal, pubescent at the tip, 



